Happy Halloween....... 

Trick-or-Treating at Nana & PopPop's......how cool is this house decorated. 

Witch Greta and Gypsy Rori!!!! 

Asleep on Daddy's lap after school today....the parade and party really tuckered her out....and it was a good thing she fell asleep because we had a busy night Trick-or-Treating and having dinner with cousins at Nana & PopPop's house. 

There she is leading the pack of princess, witches, goblins, fairies and buzz light years.....the kids were all so cute. The one thing that I always laugh about is how the boys go from being 'cute' costumes in Kindergarten and First grade and then as they age the become ghosts and goblins.... 

My little Love Bug at the beginning of the Halloween parade at school....she was the cutest little thing,,,,see her hand waving [I tell you she is practicing to be Miss America with that wave]....Emma Sage was just so happy to be dressed-up with her classmates. 

I love my brother......... 

We had a fun, playful day.....we played in the leaves, carved pumpkins, finished halloween costumes [way ruin my record of getting done before the day before....much more fun leaving things to the last minute!! lol!!] and Greta did this little photoshoot with her baby sister!  

See Greta,,,,,a spider!!!! 

Look what I have....a spider!!!! Greta is very afraid of spiders and Emma Sage thinks it is quite funny to scare her sister with a pretend spider! 

Sisters......oh what fun!!!! 

It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House in the Ozarks by Hines)


 

Sweet child of mine. Emma Sage and I had a blast waiting for Otto and his cousin Mikey and Greta and friends while they went to the Haunted Mill in Clinton, NJ this evening. We ate dinner in the car, read books, talked about life and took some sweet pictures.

Hey Mommy....look what I can do with my turtle-neck!  

and the leaves come floating down....... 

Yes! It is possible to have too much fun!!! Playing in fall leaves has to be one of the magical delights of childhood. When do you remember being so in awe of colors and textures and the ability to threw up something high into the air and have it rain down on you gently? Yes,,,,,,playing in leaves is fun! 

Happy Autumn......What a glorious day we had playing in the leaves. This child just fills my heart with such joy. How truly blessed I am by my family. 

image49

image49
Originally uploaded by annikaleigh.

Sleeping Beauty. This is a shot that I entered in a photography contest which the theme was 'Sleep'. I was awared an honorable mention.....I was so very excited!! I love taking pictures and am working on my craft,,,of coarse Emma Sage is happy to be my little model.

The Joy,,,,,The Laughter,,,,Life with Emma Sage is just a pure delight [OK....so there is sometimes when it isn't all smiles...but those times are seldom and few!] 

Greta, Otto and Emma Sage......three of my sweet peas.  

Rosa Parks

rosa parks
Originally uploaded by radiospike.

"Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others." ~Rosa Parks

We thank you for your courage, your devotion and your vision for a better America.

Rosa Parks philosophy was of 'Quiet Strength'......Rest in Peace dear Rosa, Rest in Peace.

I Got Mail!!! I got mail!!!.....

I got mail!!!! I got mail! were the exciting words bubbling out of my little girl today.

Emma Sage loves getting the mail out of the mailbox and always asks "I get mail?" to which I usually have to reply "no". Most times I give her the junk mail so she can open it and''read'.

Well today there was a surprise in the mailbox...............A letter for Miss Emma Sage.

What is truly amazing about this special letter [besides making my little girl so gloriously happy] is that the letter came from someone that we don't know..............or really know in real life. A visitor to our blog saw a picture of Emma Sage at her Nana's mailbox looking for mail and read that Emma Sage loves to get mail and contacted me to ask if they could send a letter.

How cool is this? The Internet is truly an amazing paradigm. I have met so many incredible friends online because my daughter was born blessed with an extra chromosome. People that my life's journey would not have crossed paths with if for not the magic of T21.

So today, Emma Sage's new friend Claire and her Mommy sent a letter [and a butterfly sticker and a picture of Claire [[who is absolutely adorable I must say.........and also sports that designer gene]] and made me little girls day.

She has been walking around with the notecard [a beautiful hand-stamped card no less] and a butterfly sticker that is truly lifelike and a picture of a precious little girl named Claire and telling everyone she comes into contact with "Look, I got mail"............."Mail from my new friend Claire"

So thank you cyberspace for giving us a platform to share our lives.............make new friends...........and let the whole wide world know that Down syndrome/Trisomy 21 is a blessing and not a diagnosis to be afraid of.

Scenes from the living room....

Scenes from the livingroom.

Greta comes upstairs to me tonight laughing. She tells me "Come down stairs Mom, you have to see this"

I follow her downstairs and we stop quietly to watch.

Emma Sage is in the middle of the living room with a dolly in her arms. She is having the grandest conversation with said dolly.

"OK, don't be scared, I catch you" Emma Sage says to her dolly

Up in the air the dolly flies, coming down and Emma Sage misses her.

"Ooops, I sorry, I catch you next time" she says

Up in the air the dolly goes again,,,,,plop, down falls dolly to the floor again.

"Oh dolly, I sorry, I catch you again, OK?"

Dolly goes up, dolly comes down. This time dolly is caught.

"See, I catch you, no be scared." And then a big kiss and a hug the dolly gets from her mistress and Greta and I start laughing from our hiding spot.

This kid just cracks me up.

A Beautiful Weekend.....

Make-up, Party dress~~~~fun for all!

We had such a busy, delightful weekend. It started out on Friday with a Tricky Tray, in which our lucky little girl won lots of neat prizes and her brother Otto got to be a runner of the prizes and then went to a sleepover,,,,,,,,,then Saturday, Otto had a soccer game in the rain and there was lots of getting ready as Katrina and Greta had their homecoming dance. Emma Sage was so excited to help the girls put on their make-up, do their hair and put on their pretty party dresses.

All day long Emma Sage kept saying that she wanted to put on make-up, a pretty dress and go dancing.

Well she finally got her wish on Sunday when she got to get all dressed up for her friend Skylars Princess Birthday Party. The invitation was by degree to wear your finest Princess dress and crown and come to Castle Solewater for a Princess Tea Party.

What fun Emma Sage and her sisters had,,,,,,,,as you can see in the photographs below.

Princess Emma Sage calling out to the castle gates to announce her arrival to Castle Solewater!  

Yummmmm,,,,this princess cupcake is just devine! 

Singing 'Happy Birthday, dear Skylar'.....Emma Sage and Skylar are friends from school....they are the bestest of friends. 

Princess Emma Sage on her way to Prince Skylar's princess birthday ball..... 

Homecoming 2005

Katrina and friends. Lizzy and Katrina have been friends since they first met in Kindergarten, and their escorts......